A coworker and I were just discussing the direction of water flow in toilets. He didn’t know that the oft-repeated grade school tale of southern hemisphere toilets swirling in the opposite direction is a myth. See http://www.ems.psu.edu/~fraser/Bad/BadCoriolis.html.
www.snopes.com is a great resource for other myths. Teeth do not dissolve when soaked in a soft drink. (My 2nd grade reading teacher actually tried that! Now I know why it didn’t work.) Nova does not mean “doesn’t go” in Spanish. Poinsettias are not poisonous.